The Message
by digimaniac-falkor3
Summary: A man comes home from work to find a message from his past on his answering machine.


dm: seem to be doing a lot of impulsive updates nowadays...anyhoos, this is a fic about rikas dad. not very in-depth, but i kinda like it.

Disclaimer: dont own tamers, kinda own my interpretation of rikas dad, but not legally...

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The Message

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A man in a business suit stared tiredly at his briefcase while the elevator slowly rumbled past floors. He didn't want to think of the work he still had left to do. The elevator dinged and the doors opened roughly. He walked past several apartments before arriving at his own and began to search for his keys. The search felt like it took much longer than possible, considering he only had two or three pockets. Finally, his keys were in the lock and he could enter his home. He closed the door behind him, tossed his keys onto a counter, and collapsed onto his couch. The man slowly stretched his back, grimacing slightly as it cracked many times, before checking his phone for messages. However, he didn't expect any, so he was surprised to hear the voice of a young girl that had left him a message an hour ago.

"Hey, Dad. Yeah, I finally found your number. Mom can hide things pretty well, even a name, but I did it. You're probably wondering why I decided to call out of the blue. Well, I'm wondering why I'm calling out of the blue..." The voice trailed off slightly as the girl apparently got lost in her thoughts for a bit. "Anyway, I just thought you should know I'm fine, I'm fourteen now, in case you couldn't remember. Well, I'm not even sure you remember me at all. I mean, you left eleven years ago, who knows how much you remember?" One could almost hear the girl shake her head. "Sorry, guess I started rambling.

Um...I'm doing well in school. Actually, well isn't the word for it, but I'm passing, so...oh, and I'm really good in English, which is surprising, but Mom says I got it from you. I guess you must be a good English speaker, right? Everyone says that I should become an ambassador or translator when I grow up cuz of that. I don't know, though, I'd rather be something like a counselor, somebody who people could come and talk to. I'm sure a lot of people I know would be surprised to hear me say that, but it's true.

Oh, yeah, I've got some really good friends. A lot of them are pretty weird, but I kinda fit in with them, so I can overlook some of their stupider points. There's one boy who's always trying to make me mad or get me to blush, but it's fun because we always get into battles of wit, and I win sometimes. Another one is a lot of fun to tease, especially since he takes the insults I give him seriously. He doesn't really understand that I don't actually mean most of the things I say to hurt. A few are just blunt observations. They're all really good friends, people I could trust my life with. People I have trusted my life with.

Cuz, you see, Dad...well, do you remember, a while back, there was a giant red blob that attacked the world and messed up all the electronics? And how some creatures called digimon fought against it? Well, I...I was one of them. I'm a tamer, with a partner digimon named Renamon. She's one of the best friends I could have ever made. She's really loyal, and strong, but she can be funny, too. She likes to make jokes with Terriermon – oh, he's another digimon, one of my friend's partner. She looks pretty much like a tall kitsune. Well, Grandma thought that, at least, when she met Renamon.

Ah, geez...Mom's badgering me about something now, so I have to go. I guess I'll try to call again some other time...Dad, just – don't forget about me. If you can, come visit me. It'd be nice to see you again." beep

The answering machine's light went off. The man was lost in his thoughts, though. Thoughts centered around a three-year-old's sobbing face...a face he hadn't seen in eleven years.

_Her voice..._ The man had thought for one brief moment before the girl had said 'dad' that it was his ex-wife, back in her teenage days, when both of them had been so foolish and happy... He shook his head to dispel the nostalgic fog. However much he wished to see his daughter again, and to explain why he hadn't visited since he left, the courts were quite clear on what would happen.

He chuckled as a nearly-forgotten tune began playing in his head. He and his daughter had sung together as they took walks in the twilight hours, holding hands and being happy. As he began making his dinner, he hummed a few bars and wondered if it would be possible to happen by Shinjuku and at least see what sort of a town his daughter was growing up in.

After all, if he couldn't directly visit his daughter, he could at least let her know he existed. He smiled and sang the poignant song out loud.

_You promised we could stay for the sunset_

_And when the moon shines through the darkness_

_We could find the path that leads us home_

_And on the way you'll, maybe, sing me a song._

_Promise me you always will be there_

_Hold my hand if ever I'm real scared_

_Help me stand up tall if I fall down_

_Make me laugh away all my bluest days._

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dm: started after watching the dub version of runaway locomon about fifty times, continued in pieces, and probably horribly ooc for rika. meh. win some, lose some. and i wrote the lines from the dub version of rikas song from memory...i dont have an obsession...anyhoos, ive wondered, after reading a translation of runaway locomon and watching it several (hundred) times, what happened with rikas father. and i think rikas lines in the song after the ones i put in here (starting with "How could you promise you always would be there?") were made up later, while her father sang the lines i put in and she sang the bit the three year old rika in her vision sang. dang, that was a lot of words in one sentence...anyhoos, review if you wish. maybe ill actually get more than four reviews this time around...ciao!


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